15 December 2009 Dearborn County Commissioner Meeting Notes

15 December 2009 Dearborn County Commissioner Meeting Notes

Present: Thompson, President, Hughes, and Orschell
Also present: Pickens, Auditor, and Witte, Attorney

OLD BUSINESS:
1. Hogan Water Corp – removed from tabled list – they have not recontacted the county.

2. East Fork Road- removed from tabled list- all notified of INDOT’s stance on the intersection at SR1.

3. Happy Hollow remains tabled until January.

4. Assessor’s contract signed with Tyler Appraisal and Tax Solutions after Witte had reviewed and corrected it.

NEW BUSINESS:
1. Sheriff Lusby sent the matron- Tammy Wismann- to request keeping all bids for the commissary. Approved.

2. Mike Rozow- Chamber of Commerce had the annual contract signed. Hughes asked about Maynard Barrett’s absence at the Chamber’s meeting and Rozow stated he was in the hospital.

3. Ruth Ann Batta- Summer Arts Program- was not present- no decision.

4. Bob Hrezo Engineering- presented information on the Shumway building as part of the Justice Center project. He said they have experience with the building under previous owners. He also told Commissioners it is a solid building and does not need to be torn down despite a couple issues. He stressed that his company was local and wanted locals to get the business. Thompson noted that RQAW is doing the analysis of the building “free” with the charette price set up by Council. No decision.

5. Mark McCormack- Plan Director presented the zone change for the land behind Walmart and above Wilson Creek owned by Linkmeyer and Dearborn Development. Nick Roth was the only public speaking at the hearing on the zone change. He emphasized the drainage issues below this development, the idea that there are better places to put multifamily than on a steep hillside, and that if Lawrenceburg gets this annexed then the stipulations may or may not be followed. There are 64 units planned on 16 acres. The hurry is because a grant that is only offered annually is due Dec 18. Mike Hall Surveyor- stated he worked on the Wilson Creek issues with Walmart years ago and he has all the permits needed by state and DNR for the current development work.

Nick Roth stressed that the geotech should be done in advance of the zone change in case they say it’s unbuildable. He had shown the hill to his father who was appraiser for Turner Construction. He wanted to know how this was RESPONSIBLE development, does it help Lawrenceburg and the community, and does it conserve property values.

At that- Jason Christopher ( sp?) geotech for the project stated that they needed construction drawings before they commenced geotech borings but that the area laid out is definitely buildable as long as they do it on drill piers. It depends on how much money you want to spend. [ NOTE: This did not sound like a rousing cheer for the project. In fact – if they need a grant to proceed- then why do expensive piers etc?] He went on to talk about gray shale under the clay. Roth said that will deteriorate, as it did behind the strip malls of Anevski’s on US 50. Jason said that was because of the clay washing off in heavy rains before the straw and seed was applied and the clay didn’t have time to mesh with the shale. He suggested putting in structured 8-10 “ lifts with the powdered shale., etc. and stated the retention ponds should help out a lot.

Commissioners decided to rezone with the same conditions addressed BEFORE construction occurs. The motion as outlined by Thompson and placed by Orschell and 2nded by Hughes was: to approve because it loosely adheres to the master plan, it is similar to uses adjacent to it, it is desirable as matching Lawrenceburg development, the construction will be OK if contained and controlled and it extends the development along the fringe of currently developed areas. They waived the reading of the formal ordinance. All ayes- passed.

The Wind Energy Ordinance passed unanimously with little further discussion. [ NOTE: That ordinance will be posted before these notes on the blog.]

McCormack also invited the commissioners to the Dec 21st meeting and advertised that they might all be in attendance. This is to discuss the issues with permits that Hughes brought up last meeting.

6. Reaction PC Maintenance agreement was presented- Commissioners took it to review for Jan meeting. David Wyly recommended they use the flat rate the first year to budget easier and take in all the training at a reduced rate. FX Design is on board with producing a seamless transition to the new website, which will be up by Feb.

7. OKI 2010 agreement signed for $16,495- based on our population numbers.

Todd Listerman- Highway Director- gave a record 6- minute update-

The county accepted all bids for fuel, aggregates, and asphalt to be used at the director’s discretion.

Commissioners signed off on the Old SR 52 project form ICC639 as we were the local project adm ( LPA) on this. INDOT already signed off.

Pickens- Claims and minutes were signed.

Witte- Attorney- reported that 2 tort claims were filed on crashes where the county’s liability is probably zero. The county was also named in 2 mortgage foreclosures.

Commissioners closed on the Randall Avenue property last week.

Witte has talked to Votaw- L-bg’s attorney- the city is willing to transfer the Shumway building, but wants to know what the project will be and will look like before they do.

Witte had an unusual request last week regarding a small filming company that wants to get the requirements for filming here. He stressed to them that they needed to get their lawyer to check all state requirements and any accessory permits needed if they set up food for the crews etc. They want to film part if this at CONCEPTS ( so-called Gentlemen’s Club) in Lawrenceburg. (That brought laughter)

Witte has helped Mike Hornbach at PU Ext Office in Aurora with their bldg lease. The county pays that.

Homeland Security District 9 hired an independent contractor- Tracy Lightfield and Witte revised the contract to reflect the insurance she will carry. Signed.

CBDG- Community Block Dev Grant for Region 15 Children’s Advocacy Center in Dillsboro- Was signed with commissioners hearing also about how the county is responsible for the audits to be sure the money is used for what they are supposed to use it for. County is designating SEIRPC as their auditing agent.

Pickens asked Witte to come back- he had a question for him. Witte joked- Do you want to know how to get a role in the movie? ( laughter)
Pickens replied that it was about auditor’s new job, as the trustees no longer do it, regarding slaughter values of livestock form dog kills or coyotes etc. Witte was approved by commissioners to check into these new laws.

Orschell asked Commissioners if they would consider leasing property on Randall Ave ( to the Animal Shelter) Yes.

He also asked about county coordinator. Thompson said Council is talking about defunding the position for the following year. They don’t want to hire someone and have them lose the job due to funding issues. Waiting till Council meets in 2010 to get that settled.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Todd Listerman asked if they will have a set date for claims- Cary said yes.

Tim from T-4 Construction asked about the PAWS shelter and the maintenance budget for the building- he had some ideas on energy saving ( perhaps with his windmills) Orschell told him they are still negotiating this building.

Thompson wished everyone a Merry Christmas as this is the last meeting of 2009.

Next meeting is Jan 5 7 PM in Commissioners Room.

Meeting adjourned at 9:40 PM
Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township